Road to the Cup - May 8, 1980 -- Buffalo 2, Isles 0 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-2)

40 Years Ago Tonight... (actually last night)
By Eric Hornick

Game 5
Buffalo 2, Isles 0
John Van Boxmeer and Richie Dunn scored power play goals while Bob Sauve made 22 saves to record the shutout as the Sabres cut the Isles' lead in the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals to 3-games-to-2 with a 2-0 win over the Isles in Game 5.

It was the Sabres' first win over the Isles in six home playoff games, dating back to the 1976 Quarter-Finals.

With John Tonelli serving an early penalty, Chico Resch allowed a power play goal just 1:52 into play in his first start since Game 2 of the preliminary series.  Resch, who had mopped up in the third period in game four, would allow only one other goal but the Isles were stymied by the Sabres' defense.  Chico would play another seven seasons in the NHL, but he would never start another playoff game.

The Scoring:

1st Period
01:52 BUF PP John Van Boxmeer (3) Rick Martin, Danny Gare

2nd Period
14:45 BUF PP Richie Dunn (2) Ric Seiling, John Van Boxmeer

3rd Period
No Scoring

The Series:
Game 1: Isles 4, Buffalo 2
Game 2: Isles 2, Buffalo 1 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 7, Buffalo 4
Game 4: Buffalo 7, Isles 4
Game 5: Buffalo 2, Isles 0
May 10 - At Isles
(Isles lead series, 3-2)

Mini-Skinny:
The Isles outshot Buffalo 22-15....  Chico Resch fell to 0-2 in the playoffs while Bob Sauve earned the win, improving to 6-1... It was the only time in the four Stanley Cup winning seasons that the Isles were shutout; they were blanked three times in the Drive For Five campaign...Resch finished his playoff career with a 17-17 record (all with the Isles)...The game established an Islander club record for fewest combined shots in a playoff game (37); that record was broken in a 1985 game with Washington...The 15 shots allowed set an Islander record that still stands today.

Overtime is Our Time!
1st round vs LA: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)
Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)
Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24)
Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13)
Semi-Finals vs Buf: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 13 Games
Bryan Trottier 8-12-20
Bob Nystrom 6-8-14
Bob Bourne 9-4-13

Isles +/- Leaders thru 13 Games
Bob Lorimer +11
Denis Potvin +8
Garry Howatt +8
Gordie Lane +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 13 Games
Garry Howatt 63
Gord Lane 57
Duane Sutter 46
Clark Gillies 48

The Sabres were back in the series and while the Islander players were still confident, they had to feel that Game 6 was a must game for both sides. We'll pick up the story on Sunday, the 40th anniversary of Game 6, and the biggest game in Bob Lorimer's career.

Road to the Cup - May 6, 1980 -- Buffalo 7, Isles 4 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight... 

By Eric Hornick

Game 4

Buffalo 7, Isles 4

The Isles were ready to punch a ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in their history, and the Coliseum crowd had their brooms ready but the Sabres had other ideas.  Buffalo rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 7-4 win in game 4 of their Semi-Final series.  Bob Bourne and Bob Nystrom each scored twice for the Isles.  

Gilbert Perreault completed his hat trick into the empty net as the Sabres stopped an 11-game playoff losing streak against the Isles.(one shy of the NHL record against a single opponent).

The Scoring:

1st Period

08:52 NYI PP Bob Bourne (8) Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy

16:14 BUF SH Don Luce (3)         Andre Savard

19:13 NYI Bob Bourne (9) Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy

2nd Period

03:28 NYI Bob Nystrom (5) Denis Potvin

07:21 BUF Derek Smith (4) Jim Schoenfeld, Tony McKegney

09:29 BUF PP Gilbert Perreault (6) Derek Smith, Lindy Ruff

11:10 BUF Gilbert Perreault (7) Don Luce

19:30 BUF PP Derek Smith (5) Danny Gare, Gilbert Perreault

3rd Period

01:51 NYI Bob Nystrom (6) Bob Lorimer

12:14 BUF Tony McKegney (3) Danny Gare, Derek Smith

19:47 BUF EN Gilbert Perreault (8)

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Buffalo 2

Game 2: Isles 2, Buffalo 1 (OT)

Game 3: Isles 7, Buffalo 4

Game 4: May 8 - At Buffalo

(Isles lead series, 3-1)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles were outshot by Buffalo 35-31....  Billy Smith fell to 10-2 in the playoffs while Bob Sauve earned the win... Bob Lorimer went +3 for the Isles, earning a point on each even-strength goal, and not being on-ice for any of the five Sabres goals not scored on the power play...Gilbert Perreault's hat trick was the first of three allowed by the Isles in a playoff game since Rick MacLeish (5-13-1975)  and was the first of 3 allowed by the Isles in the Cup era (Paul Holmgren -1980 Final, Wayne Gretzky -1981 Quarter-Finals)...Bob Bourne's two goals gave him the club lead with 9; Bill Barber also had 9...Bryan Trottier's two assists gave him the NHL playoff lead with 20 points; his 12 assists were one behind Bobby Smith's league-leading 13...Both Perreault and Derek Smith tied the club record for points against the Isles in a playoff games (set by Jean Ratelle and Steve Vickers on April 10, 1975).

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Semi-Finals vs Buf: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 12 Games

• Bryan Trottier 8-12-20
• Bob Nystrom 6-8-14
• Bob Bourne 9-4-13

Isles +/- Leaders thru 12 Games 

• Bob Lorimer +11
• Denis Potvin +8
• Garry Howatt +8
• Gordie Lane +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 12 Games

• Garry Howatt 63
• Gord Lane 50
• Duane Sutter 46
• Clark Gillies 46

The Sabres had life, and were heading home. For the first time in a month, Billy Smith would not play - Chico Resch was in goal. We'll pick up the story on Friday, the 40th anniversary of Game 5.

Road to the Cup - May 3, 1980 -- Isles 7, Buffalo 4 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight... 

By Eric Hornick

Game 3

Isles 7, Buffalo 4

Bryan Trottier scored two second period goals to break a 2-2 tie as the Islanders moved within one win of the Stanley Cup Final with a 7-4 victory over Buffalo as the Isles grabbed a 3-0 lead in the series. It was the Isles’ 11^th straight playoff win over the Sabres (one shy of the NHL record against a single opponent).

Mike Bossy and Wayne Merrick had scored first period goals to give the Isles the lead but a late goal by Tony McKegney cut the advantage in half before the period was over.  After Gilbert Perreault tied the game at 8:12 of the 2^nd period, Trottier needed just 45 seconds to restore the Isles’ lead.  He then added a power play goal with 1:34 left in the session.

Lorne Henning and Bob Bourne scored in the first 8 minutes of the third to make it a 6-2 lead but the Sabres weren’t quite done yet, scoring twice in 58 seconds to cut the lead to 6-4 before Butch Goring cemented the win into an empty net.  

The Scoring:

1st Period

05:14 NYI Mike Bossy (5) Bryan Trottier

12:47 NYI Wayne Merrick (2) John Tonelli

19:28 BUF Tony McKegney (2) Bill Hajt, Derek Smith

2nd Period

08:12 BUF Gilbert Perreault (5) Rick Martin

08:57 NYI Bryan Trottier (7) Bob Nystrom, Denis Potvin

18:26 NYI PP Bryan Trottier (8) Mike Bossy

3rd Period

02:59 NYI SH Lorne Henning (2) Denis Potvin

07:47 NYI PP Bob Bourne (7) Bob Nystrom, Wayne Merrick

10:11 BUF PP Derek Smith (3) Tony McKegney, Larry Playfair

11:09 BUF Lindy Ruff (1)         Bob Mongrain, Richie Dunn

19:38 NYI EN Butch Goring (4) Bob Nystrom

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Buffalo 2

Game 2: Isles 2, Buffalo 1 (OT)

Game 3: Isles 7, Buffalo 4

Game 4: At Coliseum May 6

(Isles lead series, 3-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles outshot Buffalo 40-33....  Billy Smith improved to 10-1 in the playoffs while Don Edwards took the loss... The win was the Isles' tenth in the playoffs (10-2), breaking the then-club record set in 1975.... It was only the 2nd time that the Isles had moved within one game of the Cup Final, having forced Philadelphia to a seventh game in 1975.

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

Quarter-Finals vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Semi-Finals vs Buf: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 11 Games

Bryan Trottier 8-10-18

John Tonelli 6-6-12

Bob Nystrom 4-8-12

Isles +/- Leaders thru 11 Games (When you think about a team where everybody played a role, look at all of the guys +8!)

Bryan Trottier +9

Garry Howatt +8

Dave Langevin +8

Gordie Lane +8

Bob Lorimer +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 11 Games

Garry Howatt 63

Duane Sutter 46

Clark Gillies 46

Gord Lane 46

The Isles had a 3-0 lead in the semi-finals for the first time in their history.  

“We’re one game away from the final; everyone knows that. If we do it in four, then we can sit back and relax”, Denis Potvin told the NY Times’ Parton Keese. “But there’s still one more game, don’t forget it.” 

We'll pick up the story on Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of Game 4.

Road to the Cup - May 1, 1980 -- Isles 2, Buffalo 1 2OT (Isles lead best-of-7 series 2-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight... (actually last night)

By Eric Hornick

Game 2

Isles 2, Buffalo 1 (2 OT)

Bob Nystrom's fourth career overtime goal is by far his most famous; however it was his third overtime goal 1:20 into the second overtime that gave the Isles a 2-1 period over Buffalo, and a 2-0 lead in their semi-final series.

Nystrom's rebound of a Bob Lorimer shot ended the longest game in Islander history (to that point) and ended the only Islander multiple-overtime game in the Cup era. The winning goal was scored at 12:10 AM Buffalo time, marking the first Islander game to start on one day and finish on the next.

Butch Goring had broken a scoreless tie late in the second period but Andre Savard tied the score at 11:47, setting the stage for the first five-period game in Islander history.

The Isles had swept the two games in Buffalo, and despite having won only three regular season season games ever in Buffalo to that point, had extended their road winning streak over the Sabres to five games.  They also extended their overall playoff win streak over Buffalo to 10 games.

Here is a news clip of all three goals from the game:

And here's the CBC call of the game (with Bob Cole and Gary Dornhoefer); check out Bob Cole wearing Islander goalie equipment in the pre-game!

The Scoring:

1st Period

No Scoring

2nd Period

15:02 NYI Butch Goring (3) Gord Lane, Denis Potvin

3rd Period

11:47 BUF Andre Savard (1) Gilbert Perreault, Rick Martin

First Overtime Period

No Scoring

2nd Ovetime Period

01:20 NYI Bob Nystrom (4) Bob Lorimer, Clark Gillies

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Buffalo 2

Game 2: Isles 2, Buffalo 1 (OT)

Game 3: At Coliseum May 3

Game 4: At Coliseum May 6

(Isles lead series, 2-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

Buffalo outshot the Isles 42-33 with each team having 10 shots in overtime....  Billy Smith improved to 9-1 in the playoffs while Bob Sauve took the loss... The win was the Isles' ninth in the playoffs (9-2), tying the then-club record set in 1975....The Isles recorded their seventh straight road victory (2 in LA, 3 in Boston, 2 in Buffalo)...Bob Nystrom became the first Islander to score three career overtime goals (he is the only Islander to finish with four)...Andre Savard's goal, the first since Buffalo opened the scoring in game 1, ended a 106:23 scoreless stretch for Billy Smith.

Mr. Overtime

Bob Nystrom scored four overtime goals for the Isles:

4/25/1978 - Game 5 vs. Toronto 8:02

5/3/1979 - Game 4 @ Rangers 3:40

5/1/1980 - Game 2 @ Buffalo 21:20

and (spoiler alert!)

5/24/1980 - Game 6 vs. Philadelphia 7:11 

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

2nd round vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Semi-Finals vs Buf: Game 2 (W 2-1 Nystrom 21:20)

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 11 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-9-15

John Tonelli 6-5-11

Bob Bourne 6-4-10

Butch Goring 3-7-10

Isles +/- Leaders thru 11 Games

Dave Langevin +10

Bryan Trottier +8

Stefan Persson +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 11 Games

Garry Howatt 63

Duane Sutter 46

Clark Gillies 46

Gord Lane 44

The Isles had a 2-0 lead in the semi-finals for the first time in their history.  They were heading home with a chance to take a stranglehold on the series. 

We'll pick up the story on Sunday, the 40th anniversary of Game 3.

Road to the Cup - April 29, 1980 -- Isles 4, Buffalo 1 (Isles lead best-of-7 series 1-0)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 1

Isles 4, Buffalo 1

It had been a week since their last game when the Isles hit the ice at The Aud in Buffalo to open the semi-finals.

To this point in their history, Buffalo was a spot that the Isles could never win in regular season play (3-12-4) but they had won two playoff series over the Sabres (1976 and 1977) and had gone 3-2 in Buffalo in those two series,

The Sabres had had a tremendous regular season, finishing first in defense and third in offense while amassing 110 points; they also had  Scotty Bowman behind the bench and home-ice.

Rick Dudley gave the Sabres an early 1-0 lead and when Gord Lane took a major penalty for spearing the Isles were in a bit of trouble.  However late in the power play Bob Bourne flipped the game with an unassisted shorthanded tally.  Mike Bossy scored unassisted later in the period for a 2-1 Isles advantage after one.

John Tonelli scored the only goal of the second period and then scored the only goal of the third as the Isles coasted to a 4-1 win to grab the series lead.

The Scoring:

1st Period

05:23 BUF Rick Dudley (3) Craig Ramsay

13:09 NYI SH Bob Bourne (6)

17:42 NYI Mike Bossy (4)

2nd Period

09:56 NYI John Tonelli (5) Dave Langevin, Stefan Persson

3rd Period

11:10 NYI John Tonelli (6) Duane Sutter

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 4, Buffalo 2

Game 2: May 1 in Buffalo

(Isles lead series, 1-0)

Mini-Skinny: 

Buffalo outshot the Isles 32-29....  Billy Smith improved to 8-1 in the playoffs while Don Edwards (who had shared the Vezina with Bob Sauve) took the loss... The win was the Isles' eighth in the playoffs (8-2), one shy of the then-club record set in 1975...The Isles improved to 3-0 in series openers (they would win 15 of 16 game 1's during the four years they won the Cup...Bob Bourne and John Tonelli both tied Bryan Trottier for the team lead in playoff goals (6)...The Isles recorded their sixth straight road victory (2 in LA, 3 in Boston, 1 in Buffalo)

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA: Game 3 (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

2nd round vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 10 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-9-15

John Tonelli 6-5-11

Bob Bourne 6-4-10

Butch Goring 2-7-9

Isles +/- Leaders thru 10 Games

Dave Langevin +10

Bryan Trottier +8

Stefan Persson +8

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 10 Games

Garry Howatt 63

Duane Sutter 46

Clark Gillies 44

The Isles had guaranteed themselves a split of the opening pair in Buffalo.  They had never won the first two games of the semi-finals before this; they would have a shot two nights later.  It would just take a while.

We'll pick up the story (with lots of video) on "May Day, May Day" (May 1st).

Road to the Cup - April 22, 1980 -- Isles 4, Boston 2 (Isles win best-of-7 series 4-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 5

Isles 4, Boston 2

It was on to the semi-finals for the Never Say Dielanders, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit for a 4-2 win at Boston Garden.  The win clinched the series for the Isles, 4 games to 1.

Wayne Cashman and Peter McNab scored in the first 3:28 to give Boston the early 2-0 lead, as the Bruins, who were 20 seconds away from elimination less than 24 hours earlier seized the early momentum.

It stayed that way for the rest of the first and most of the second, when Stefan Persson got the Isles on the board. 

Emblematic of this series, there was another big fight midway through the second period as Duane Sutter and Clark Gillies fought with Al Secord and Mike Milbury. Later in the session, Ray Bourque (yes, Ray Bourque) received a triple-minor after he exchanged sticks and rough stuff with Garry Howatt (who received four minutes).  Bourque was still in the penalty box when Persson's goal changed the game.

Here's a bit of the fight from TV-38 (with Fred Cusick on the call); the clip begins with Milbury and Sutter already on the ice.

Still, the Isles trailed 2-1 in a usually unfriendly building heading to the third period, but this was a different Islander team.  Duane Sutter tied the game early in the period and just under six minutes into the period Clark Gillies scored what turned out to be the series-winning goal. Denis Potvin scored the final goal of the series with at 14:27; with that goal, School Was Out for the Bruins and the Isles had advanced. 

Here are some highlights from Dick Irvin on Hockey Night in Canada:

The Scoring:

1st Period

01:31 BOS Wayne Cashman (3) Ray Bourque, Craig MacTavish

03:28 BOSPP Peter McNab (8) Wayne Cashman, Rick Middleton

2nd Period

17:23 NYI PP Stefan Persson (2) Bryan Trottier, Mike Bossy

3rd Period

02:38 NYI Duane Sutter (1) Bob Lorimer, Butch Goring

05:58 NYI Clark Gillies (4) Duane Sutter, Butch Goring

14:27 NYI Denis Potvin (1) Mike Bossy

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 5, Boston 3

Game 4: Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Game 5: Isles 4, Boston 2

(Isles win series, 4-1)

Mini-Skinny: 

Each team had 24 shots on goal....  Billy Smith improved to 7-1 in the playoffs.. The Isles had gone 3-8-4 in their prior 15 regular season games in Boston before winning all three games in the series....There were 416 penalty minutes in the series (Boston 209, Isles 207).

Overtime is Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

2nd round vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 9 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-9-15

John Tonelli 4-5-9

Bob Bourne 5-4-9

Butch Goring 2-7-9

Isles +/- Leaders thru 9 Games

Bryan Trottier +8

Dave Langevin +7

Gord Lane +7

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 9 Games

Garry Howatt 63

Duane Sutter 46

Clark Gillies 44

The Isles had advanced to the Semi-Finals for the fifth time in sixth seasons. They would have a lot of time to prepare; while their eventual opponent the Sabres had already won their series, the NHL reseeded teams in each round.  It would take a Minnesota upset of Montreal (in game 7) to create an Islander-Sabre series for the third time in five years.  That series began in Buffalo on April 29th, so we'll pick up the story next Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of Game 1.

Road to the Cup - April 21, 1980 -- Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT) (Isles lead best-of-7 series 3-1)

40 Years Ago Tonight...

By Eric Hornick

Game 4

Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT)

he Islanders were ready to sweep the Bruins and move on to the semi-finals, but Terry O’Reilly had other ideas. O’Reilly scored at 17:13 of overtime as the Bruins defeated the Isles 4-3 to cut the Isles lead to 3 games to 1.

Ray Bourque had given the Bruins a 1-0 lead, but Mike Bossy, returning to the lineup after missing five games with an injury scored twice for the Isles to turn the advantage in the Isles’ favor thru 40 minutes.

Peter McNab, who had a big series, tied the score for the Bruins early in the third but when Clark Gillies scored with 6:20 to play it looked like the Isles were poised to advance.

With Gerry Cheevers on the bench, a former Ranger, Rick Middleton, tied the game at a familiar time to Islander fans: 19:40 of the third.  The Isles were outshot 32-17 through regulation but turned the tables in overtime, outshooting the Bruins 13-7.  However, O’Reilly’s goal gave the Bruins the win.

It was the Isles' only home playoff overtime in the Cup era; they wouldn’t lose another home playoff game in overtime for 13 years.

The Scoring:

1st Period

09:21 BOS Ray Bourque (2) Peter McNab, Brad McCrimmon

12:03 NYI Mike Bossy (2) Bryan Trottier, Stefan Persson

2nd Period

08:18 NYI PP Mike Bossy (3) Bryan Trottier, Clark Gillies

3rd Period

03:09 BOS Peter McNab (7) Terry O'Reilly, Don Marcotte

13:20 NYI Clark Gillies (3) Butch Goring, Dave Langevin

19:40 BOS Rick Middleton (4) Terry O'Reilly, Brad Park

1st OT Period

17:13 BOS Terry O'Reilly (3) Peter McNab, Dick Redmond

The Series:

Game 1: Isles 2, Boston 1 (OT)

Game 2: Isles 5, Boston 4 (OT)
Game 3: Isles 5, Boston 3

Game 4: Boston 4, Isles 3 (OT)

Game 5: At Boston April 22

(Isles lead series, 3-1)

Mini-Skinny: 

The Isles were outshot 39-30....  Billy Smith suffered his first loss of the post-season, dropping to 6-1 in the playoffs.. There was only one fight (Bobby Nystrom vs. Brad McCrimmon). McCrimmon later served as an Islander assistant; he was killed in the 2011 Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash.... The loss ended a six-game Islander winning streak in overtime, dating back to Lanny McDonald (TOR) defeating the Isles in game 7 in 1978 in the only Game 7 the Isles have ever hosted.

Overtime is (Usually) Our Time!

1st round vs LA : Game 3  (W 4-3 Morrow 6:55)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 1 (W 2-1 Gillies 1:02)

2nd round vs Bos: Game 2 (W 5-4 Bourne 1:24) 

2nd round vs Bos: Game 4 (L 4-3 O'Reilly 17:13) 

Isles Scoring Leaders thru 8 Games

Bryan Trottier 6-8-14

John Tonelli 4-5-9

Bob Bourne 5-4-9

Isles +/- Leaders thru 8 Games

Gord Lane +7

Bryan Trottier +7

Dave Langevin +7

Isles Penalty Minute Leaders thru 8 Games

Garry Howatt 57

Duane Sutter 41

Clark Gillies 39

The Bruins had life; at least for 24 hours.  It was up to the Islanders to extinguish that the following night in Boston. We'll tell that story on Wednesday, the 40th anniversary of Game 5.